Microworm Wranglers

[chriscoli]

There are a lot of ways to raise microworms out there, but here's what works for me. It's pretty easy to stay on top of the subculturing, and the benefit is totally worth the effort, IMO.

Basically, I make up a batch of instant oatmeal (I use a hotpot0 in the bathroom downstairs which is where....for the sake of marital harmony....I prepare all of my various fish foods and live cultures.)

I use disposable plastic cups. Maybe not the most Eco-friendly, but I'm assured of a clean culture container each time. I like to make 4 cultures so that if one dies or gets overrun with funk I can pitch it and still have more, I will also sometimes make 4 and put 2 in the fridge (especially if I'm going on vacation). I've left them in the fridge for a few weeks without a problem, but I don't know how long they can really go.

The batch of cooked oatmeal gets divided up into the 4 cups. I may add a little water if needed at this point. When it's not hot to the touch (warm is ok), I generously sprinkle onto the oatmeal some granulated baking yeast. Remember....the oatmeal feeds the yeast, the yeast feeds the microworms.

Then I use a paintbrush to transfer a little bit of my old microworm culture into the new one. I try to pick them up off the side of the old container, not the soup at the bottom and I avoid any obvious fungi that might be growing. Last, cover with foil and date the container. I try to subculture when it gets stinky....about 2 weeks, but I've gone a month occasionally.

 

[chriscoli]

Here's what a happy set of cultures looks like. Notice the microworms crawling up the sides a little.....this is what you want and this is where I harvest from. I sweep them up with a damp paintbrush.

 

[chriscoli]

d'Oh! Can a mod please change the title from whiteworm to microworm?

 

[mchambers]

Gosh, I was thinking that oatmeal was an interesting new medium for whiteworms.

I do something similar, but I use shallow black plastic bowls with clear plastic lids (like the types you get with carryout food) and I don't bother to cook the oats. I punch a hole in the lid and fill it with filter floss. Oh, and I just use generic oats, not Quaker. . . But Christine, nothing is too good for your fish.

I've heard of using cornmeal instead of oats, but tried it once and wasn't happy with the results.

 

[Pat Kelly]

d'Oh! Can a mod please change the title from whiteworm to microworm?

Completed

 

[chriscoli]

Yeah, yeah....I was typing too fast...

uncooked oats and filterfloss, eh? I NEED PICS! Please!

I also tried using infant rice cereal....it soured really fast and I had to subculture every few days. What did you not like about the cornmeal?

(oh, and I'm not going to justify my brand choice to you...well, ok...I think I was at Target in a hurry and grabbed whatever was closest....I'm sure generic brand is just as good!)

 

[chriscoli]

Thanks, Pat, for cleaning up after me!

 

[jonclark96]

What fish are you using the worms to feed?

 

[mchambers]

I also tried using infant rice cereal....it soured really fast and I had to subculture every few days. What did you not like about the cornmeal?

I think the microworm output was not as good.

I'll try to do pics of the containers tonight or tomorrow night. I don't know if my containers offer any advantages over yours. May be time for an experiment.

The uncooked oats look like cooked oats after a few days.

 

[Jmty]

I use. Baby cereal and do not smell,don't cook it and after two weeks as it water down i add more baby food and couples days is ready with maximum production , my apisto's fry look so fat that look funny.


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[Greengirl]

Red Micro worms?

Can I feed Astaxanthin to my microworms so I can then feed them to my baby koi angels so their red pops early? Would micorworms eat it? Has anyone done this? I am going to try it with my next culture.

 

[Frank Cowherd]

I have mixed a lot of different things into the food for the microworms. I too use cooked oatmeal. I usually add garlic powder. Makes it smell better to me and you often find garlic flavoring to fish foods. I have added baby (people) vitamins, you know, the liquid kind, and paprika. I know I could add astaxanthin, but I would rather add it to powdered fish food. I think a lot of what you add to microworm food is not utlilized, that is, it remains in the oatmeal, so any additive you add to oatmeal must be cheap and astaxanthin is not. But that is just my choice.

BTW instant mashed potatoes, cooked mashed pees (mashy pees), mashed sweet potatoes, and most any cereal, including corn meal, can be used to raise microworms. Some swear corn meal gives the longest life to a culture. Some swear that mashed potatoes gives the lowest odor. Mashed sweet potatoes already has the red coloring that helps bring out the red in fish. THe microworms crawling up the sides of a mashed sweet potato (are you sure it is not potatoe(sp) ) culture definitely have a red tint.

 

[Jmty]

Good idea will try that for my cacatouides


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[jonclark96]

Are most using microworms to feed fry or adult fish?

 

[mchambers]

Mostly fry, but I feed them to smaller fish, too.

 

[chriscoli]

Jon, I use them on any fry that will eat them. Once they're graduated off of the smallest size golden pearls, I find that they are ready to go for the microworms. I think that the microworms are part of why I had a good survival rate when raising my Altos. I even give the microworms to baby mbuna for a while.

Once the microworms are too small, I graduate some of my fry (not the Mbuna) to small whiteworms or grindal worms.

I've never had fry have a bad reaction to microworms. Has anyone else found that there are some fish that should NOT get microworms?

 

[Greengirl]

I am trying microworms for the first time. My baby angels seem to really like them. And microworms are so much easier to work with than BBS. I am so tired of constantly re-hatching all the time. The microworms are ready to go, and according to you all, new cultures are easy to start.

 

[Becca]

I have mixed a lot of different things into the food for the microworms. I too use cooked oatmeal. I usually add garlic powder. Makes it smell better to me and you often find garlic flavoring to fish foods. I have added baby (people) vitamins, you know, the liquid kind, and paprika. I know I could add astaxanthin, but I would rather add it to powdered fish food. I think a lot of what you add to microworm food is not utlilized, that is, it remains in the oatmeal, so any additive you add to oatmeal must be cheap and astaxanthin is not. But that is just my choice.

BTW instant mashed potatoes, cooked mashed pees (mashy pees), mashed sweet potatoes, and most any cereal, including corn meal, can be used to raise microworms. Some swear corn meal gives the longest life to a culture. Some swear that mashed potatoes gives the lowest odor. Mashed sweet potatoes already has the red coloring that helps bring out the red in fish. THe microworms crawling up the sides of a mashed sweet potato (are you sure it is not potatoe(sp) ) culture definitely have a red tint.

OMG - I am so glad you posted this. I kept thinking like the culture I bought from you smelled like garlic - I thought I was losing my mind!

I did feed some to adult fish this weekend - adult chili rasboras, adult eques pencilfish, and adult chocolate and sparkling gouramis - all of those have itty bitty little mouths, though, and are micropredators.

 

[Frank Cowherd]

I am trying microworms for the first time. My baby angels seem to really like them. And microworms are so much easier to work with than BBS. I am so tired of constantly re-hatching all the time. The microworms are ready to go, and according to you all, new cultures are easy to start.

They are easy to start, just a little (I use a fourth cup) of the old culture. Actually the liquid portion of the old culture contains a lot of worms. Spread that mixture over the new medium. You want to cover all the new surface since any you do not cover will be a place molds and mildews will grow on quicker than they can where there are worms. But it still takes from 4 to 8 days before the worms start crawling up the sides of the container, so you have to plan ahead, particularly if you know you are going to need some microworms in the near future.

My cultures seem to last at least 3 weeks and more, up to 5 weeks before needing to be replaced. It seems to me the more you harvest them the longer they last and the less you harvest them the quicker they become liquid. Once they become obviously liquid on the surface of the culture the worms have a hard time climbing up the sides of the container.

 

[chriscoli]

good to know about harvesting frequently! I'll be more liberal with them.

Part of the reason I add a lot more yeast than I see recommended is that I've found it also keeps the mold suppressed, too. And it helps that we have a HUGE bag of baker's yeast in the fridge for my husband's cooking hobby....there's no way he'll go through it by the time it goes bad.